


Where the Sky is the Limit

by karrenia_rune



Category: Gargoyles, Iron Man (movie)
Genre: Crossover, community: fic on demand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-25
Updated: 2012-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-12 05:04:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/121094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karrenia_rune/pseuds/karrenia_rune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which worlds collide and nothing blows up; yet. A crossover between Gargoyles and Iron Man( movie-verse)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title: Where the Sky is the Limit  
Fandoms: Iron Man (movie)/Gargoyles: Animated Series  
Author: karrenia  
Rating: general audiences  
Recipient: selenawolf  
Request Details: http://community.livejournal.com/fic_on_demand/1313262.html?thread=4146670#t4146670 for the Valentine Wishes Challenge

 

"Where the Sky is the Limit" Karen

The hydraulics of his flying suit were the most problematic of the various gadgets and computer inserts that had yet to be untangled, and despite the ocassional flares of temper  
and alternately yelling and berating with the robot who diligently doused the fires that sprang up, Tony Stark believed that he had at last worked out the last of the problems with his latest design.

He had just finished testing and wincing at both the bump on the head that made hairline fractures in his helmet finally settled at a gentle glide conserving the thrust and angle of his hover. Now, for the fun part, testing the suit in the field. In the background more or less drowned out by the roar of the engines he could hear his robot butler moaning about the cost it would take to repair the roof, the singed walls and various other discards.

Tony Stark ignored him and soared off into the star-speckled evening sky. He had made several circuits of the city and was feeling extremely confident of the effectiveness of his own design, its manuverability and speed when some but not all of the exhilration drained out of him when he sense rather than say a blur of a laser beam cut through the air only several feet from where he hovered. "Hey!" he shouted. "Thousands of miles of sky to choose from and people still can't fly straight."

The as yet unidentified object swung back around and gradually emerged from a bank of misty white clouds as a bizarre figure of man with metal wings, a mask of a red and black metal turned to greet his own red and gold one.

At first Tony Stark was uncertain what to make of it. He had owned up to a healthy dose of skpeticism; he preferred to work with what he could see, feel, taste and smell. The existence of the paranormal, the supernatural, and the realm of the fantastic was not even a consideration; until he took a closer look; the bat-like wings were constructed out of a metal alloy, one which he was not entirely familiar with and managed to gear the systems on-board his suit to analyze while he sized up the man inside the armor.

"Don't tell me," Tony said, as he folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not cleared for this air space. Who the hell are you?"

David Xanatos irritated at the interruption in his pursuit of Goliath and his clan growled and chewed over the variety of responses he might have made to that particular question, some ranging from the most civil to the most decidedly not civil.

He raised one arm with the shoulder mounted laser cannon in firing mode and blasting away the irritant. While he had no idea who this fellow might be, he obviously possessed the wherewithal to make an armor not only capable of defensive and offensive modes, but flight as well.

He hated to be one-uped; possibly it was the businessman in him, maybe it was the fact that it was allowing his adversaries to escape once again; but it was the sixth sense that he here was an opportunity that he could not afford to let slip away. "Who are you?"

"I asked first. Courtesy dictates that you answer first," replied Tony with a smirk that could not been seen by the other underneath his helmet. Suddenly with a jolt that nearly upset his hovering position, that he had encountered someone like this before but not clad in a bizarre armor get-up, but at an event where the demands of courtesy and etiquette mattered almost as much as having money, a charity fund-raiser. Natasha had been correct when she had observed that trouble just seemed to attach to him and follow him wherever he went. "I guess, for the sake of expidency, I can go first. He paused for a moment to think it through and then replied, "Call me Iron Man."

David Xanatos smiled and lowered the arm with his weapon. "Nice name, nice suit, if a little flashy for my tastes."

"What's with the Medeveial get-up?" asked Tony ignoring the other man's remark about the flashiness of his suit.

"Are you familiar with the expression , when in Rome, do as the Romans do?" he asked.

"Strange question, considering that we're both hovering almost two hundred feet off the ground, but okay, I'll bite, what gives?"

"All the better to get up to speed with some of the more vexing areas of doing business, but then how would the likes of you know anything about that?" Xanatos smiled and thought in the back of his mind he thought "Maybe this man, despite my initial impressions might indicated as it first appearances had made him inclined to write the other man off as an irritant and a billionaire playboy with more than a little knowledge of science and technology; might actually either prove to be either a potential ally or a potential enemy; either way; he could find a way to use either eventuality to his own advantage.

Tony bristled a little at the tone and unstated implications of the last remark. ""Bully for you."

With that he turned around and rocketed off in another direction glancing back once over his shoulder as he did so, wondering if the other would follow him ; but he did not.

He sighed; he would have liked to find out more about the man in the mask, and more about that cryptic remark about doing business and it was more than just to satisfy his own curiousity.

 

Again, that sudden flash of insight caused him to halt a few seconds and realized that he felt that calculating and aggressive stance somewhere before, before it clicked. "David Xanatos, at the charity fundraiser. They had caught sight of each other from across the length of the ballroom, and it had been as if two swordsmen crossing blades. "Maybe, just maybe I should make it my business to look further into whatever it is you're up to, and make certain it does not happen. That'll put a burr under your saddle, sure enough."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the creation of Greg Weisman, Disney and Buena Vista Television as are the characters that appear here or are mentioned; they are not mine. Iron Man belongs to Marvel Entertainment Group, Fox Movies etc; it is not mine. The story picks up shortly after where “Where the Sky is the Limit” left off. #70 storm

"The Lull before the Storm” by karrenia

There’s a certain gravid feel to the sky tonight, as if the clouds scudding high over the city and its skyscrapers can no longer hold back their accumulated moisture. He knew that a mere storm no matter how bad should not alone be the reason to cancel the clan’s nightly patrol, but there is something in the air tonight that is giving him pause. Not one to quickly jump to conclusions or prone to hasty decisions that are later regretted; Goliath frowned.

However, as Goliath studied the clouds he felt as if it is more than inclement weather that is coming. He frowned and crossed his arms over his massive chest; even as he heard the remainder of the clan moving about below his perch; bad weather or worse notwithstanding; the clan still had a duty to protect the city and its people. His own misgivings must be laid aside.

He leapt down and landed with a resounding thud flinders of concrete and metal shattering beneath him as he greeted the others.

Below the rooftop, where Goliath had been studying the sky multi-billionaire David Xanatos considered his recent meeting with a young man with a great deal of money and technological know-how at his disposal. Xanatos was in the midst of debating whether or not he is angrier at the fact of potential rival or at an opportunity to perhaps acquire the technology for own purposes. He was a man who prided himself on his own wherewithal to get ahead.

In point of fact he would not be where he is now; if he had not. In this town, money and power almost went hand in hand; still it troubled him that he couldn’t find out more about this so-called Iron Man.  
What he had learned thus far was that the Iron Man tech may have originated from a privately held company based in New York, and according to the military and government data bases the last place other the Manhattan where Iron Man had been reported had been the Middle East.

Elsewhere Tony Stark wore a welding helmet and held a torch to the plates of his chest armor repairing the damage his encounter with another man whose technology of his flying suit very nearly rivaled his own; the only difference that his had been equipped with metal bat-like wings. And while he worked he hummed off-key, wondering, yeah I so I but a verbal burr under his saddle, but that’s about it. I need to know more”

“Jarvis.”

“Yes, Tony,” replied the computer’s synthesized voice.

“The last I checked gargoyles even man-sized flying ones where nothing more than urban legends or medieval decorations on cathedrals, find me everything you can on actual gargoyles in New York.”

“There are 2,348 references on gargoyles dating from anywhere between the Dark Ages to the 21st Century, some have them as nothing more than decorative drain spouts on cathedrals, or creatures out of old legends…”

“That’s quite a spread,” remarked Tony as he removed the welding helmet and set it down on the floor. He then wiped away at the sweat on his face. “Can’t you whittle it down some more? I’ve heard that fools and their money are soon parted, but even so…”

“You might find this interesting, according to the press releases from Manhattan in the last five years, there have been at reported sightings of winged creatures seen flying overhead not only Manhattan but Paris, as well.”

“Hmm, interesting, but let’s start a little closer to home. Can you cross-reference these sightings, collate the verified ones and triangulate an approximate location?”

“As you wish, Tony” replied Jarvis.

At that moment Tony Stark’s personal assistant Pepper Potts entered the armory with a tray cradled in her arms. She came into the room and stepped over to where Stark was conferring with the robotic aspect of the complex’s computer.

“Lunch?” she asked.

“I could eat,” he replied but then added,” Lay the tray and come listen to this.”

“What’s up? “asked Pepper.

“Search parameters completed,” the computer answered: “The most reliable reports lead to the top of the Clock Tower above the Clock Tower, or the location of the 41st Precinct.”

“Home to New York’s Finest?” What do the cops have to do with this?”

“Not the cops, but two in particular, a Detective Maza and Bluestone.”

“I think, folks, that it’s time we paid a little visit and find out what’s going on.”

“I’ll pack the emergency aid kit,” Pepper said and the spare battery pack.”

“I don’t think blasting in on them in full armor is quite going to bring them to respectful attention,” Tony replied.

“Then what do you suggest?” she demanded.

“Perhaps, a more subtle approach.”

“Agreed, but what are you going to tell them?”

“I don’t know, Pepper.” Tony sighed and reached up to finger-comb some of the worst snarls out of his mop of black hair. :”I’m making this up as I go along. However, if the vibe I received from my encounter with that winged flying man is any indication; I got a feeling in my gut that the enemy isn’t the gargoyles.”

“Do you really believe that they’re real?” Pepper sighed and tapped her foot on the floor producing a tinny ringing sound out of the corrugated metal. “Mr. Stark, Tony, May I call you Tony? Chasing after phantoms on the basis of a gut feeling is one thing, but attempting to prove an urban myth is quite another.”

“Do you really think it’s just a myth?” he asked.  
She sighed again. “I don’t know, but I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

Tony smiled and stepped forward to give her a comradely smack between the shoulder blades and grinned. “That’s the spirit, Pepper! Glad to have you onboard for this.”

Encounter

Elisa Maza had just completed a double shift and was leaving the precinct, when she heard her friend and fellow officer, Morgan, calling her name. “Hey, Maza, you okay. You look tired, girl. Jollity’s just over for the day, go home and get some sleep.”

“I would love to spend some quality time with my pillow, but they need me.”   
Morgan nodded. “Yeah, it seems these days that the bad guys never take a vacation, but you’ll do no one any good if you’re falling down on your feet. Go home, Elisa.”

“I hear you, Morgan, and thanks!” Elisa shouted a little more spring in her step and stole a glance over her shoulder acknowledging the wave and the thumbs- up that Morgan gave her as she disappeared from view around the turning of a street corner.

She had been in bed for over two hours, drifting in and out of a shallow half doze when she heard a ruckus at her apartment window. Assuming that it was Goliath she stumbled out of bed and grabbing a robe wrapped it around her and then shuffled to the window on slippered feet.

Much to her surprise it wasn’t Goliath at her window after all, instead it was man dressed head to foot in red and gold armor accompanied by red-haired woman carrying a clipboard, and briefcase and a cellphone.  
Wishing, not that she had her side-arm with her, Elisa squared her shoulders and demanded, “Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?”

The voice that issued from the mouth of the helmet was definitely male and sounded as if he were using a voice synthesizer. Detective Elisa Maza, I presume?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Can we come in?"

“He wanted to make a more subtle approach, Detective,” added Pepper as she stepped down from the windowsill and onto the floor of Elisa’s apartment,” and darted a glance at the man in the armor. “This is not what I would deem subtle. My name is Pepper Potts, that’s my boss, you can call him Iron Man.”

“Uh Huh, yeah right,” Elisa muttered.

“Hey!” as he propelled himself into the room. “This is subtle. I had the devil of a time locating you at the precinct, everyone said that were out on patrol, or that you were too busy, so I finally had to locate your address in the computer database.”

“Why?

“Because, he is curious about the connection you might have with an urban legend floating around town.”

“And the armor?”

“Despite appearances to the contrary, it’s not just a middle-aged conceit, he does know how to use his gadgets and for some reason does so to defend those who otherwise cannot defend themselves, “answered Pepper before Tony could open his mouth to answer, or decided if he wanted to or not.

“Yeah, like she said.”

“If that’s the case, then why doesn’t he take the helmet off?”

“It’s part of the mystique. And he’s not supposed to reveal his, well, civilian identity. I’m told it’s all part of the superhero code,” replied Pepper.

“Great, just great and again, what does this have to do with me?” Elisa demanded.

“What do you know about gargoyles reportedly living right here in Manhattan?”

“Maybe I do know something, maybe I don’t, but in any case, what makes you think you can barge in here and ask?”

“I told him we should have come here without the armor,” replied Pepper. “At this point, our research and data indicate that there are at least three points of contact to prove the existence of real gargoyles, one is the entrerpreur, David Xanatos, and the other two are you and your partner, Detective Matt Bluestone.”

“What do you want with them?” Elisa sighed.

“They really do exist?” the armored man asked with a rising tone of excitement tinging his voice.

“Yeah, they do. If you intend any harm towards them, I’ll find a way to make you pay for It.?

“You seem awfully protective towards them, may I ask you why that is, Detective Maza,” Pepper observed.

“Because they saved my life, once.”

“Good enough for me,” Pepper replied.

“This started out as a bone of contention based on my run-in with Mr. Xanatos, from there it became curiosity, now I’ve got reason to believe that your friends are in danger.”

“Oh, wow, big surprise. I supposed this means that you want to help.”

“Hey, what, are these gargoyles to stubborn or proud to accept would-be allies,” the armored man asked.

“No, but you’ve got a really weird way of going about it. I’ll take you to them. Let me get dressed and we’ll leave right away.”

“Excellent.”

“I just hope we’ll be able to catch the clan before they leave for patrol.”  
***  
When they arrived, jounced from the flight over the city, Elisa turned to Iron Man and remarked. “You’ve got to do something about aerodynamics on this thing; the ride is really bumpy.”

Goliath was coming down from his tower perch on the way out, when he caught sight of the oddly shaped shadow shiloutted against the last light of the setting sun. His brow had been furrowed in thought and the lines did not go away even as they man in armor landed on the parapet along with Elisa Maza and another red-haired female woman he did not recognize.

He had never been one to jump to conclusions, but due to recent events the thought that the red-haired woman might possibly be Demona in her human-form as a result of the Puck’s spell did cross his mind.

“Elisa! It is always a pleasure to see you, but who are they?”

“That’s Pepper Potts and that’s well, he’s asked to be called Iron Man. It would seem that he had a run-in with David Xanatos and now he wants to settle a score. He also asked to meet the clan.”  
“A potential ally, then?” Goliath asked, however he could not entirely mask the doubt and suspicion from his voice if not his features.

“Yeah, and he also thinks that we’re in from nasty weather, and soon. I think it’s worth at least hearing him out,” replied Elisa.

“Why does he nae remove his mask,” Hudson added as he came in from the stairwell onto the rooftop parapet. “I for one would like to see the face of those I deal with.”

For his part Tony Stark was still in a state of shock from seeing what he had believed to be urban legends; he had hoped that they were actually real, but to be confronted with the actual reality , in the flesh as it were, well, that was a horse of a different color entirely. “As much as I might like to comply with that request, as Pepper here explained to Detective Maza; It’s all part of the superhero code to not reveal one’s identity to civilians.”

“Super hero? Where?” a juvenile voice broke into the conversation and then a wiry but still strong-looking yellow and green gargoyle came up holding a laptop in his hands. Upon sighting the man in the yellow and gold armor he gasped,

“Oh, there, okay, so he’s not attacking us, what’s going on?”

“It would seem that we might have a new ally, Lexington,” replied Goliath.

“Yeah, kiddo, and the name’s Iron Man.”  
Broadway, Angela and Brooklyn soon joined them, and as soon as formal introductions were concluded Pepper turned to Goliath whom she had identified as the clan leader. “My boss has the unfortunate tendency to make firm and fast friends, and once made can be incredibly stubborn. He also can be a bit impetuous, but he means well. If you want our help, or not, just say so.”

“Pepper!”

“What, this is what you wanted, isn’t?”

“Well, yes….”

“Well, then,

“Agreed, then.” Goliath smiled and then reached out a hand and grabbed the other armored forearm and shook it with a great deal of energy. “Welcome, ah, Iron Man. Now, what kind of danger do you believe is imminent?

“I don’t know exactly, I just know that it’s coming and soon.”

“You know, there’s one thing I don’t understand about all of this,” mused Tony.

“One thing,” scoffed Brooklyn in indignant disbelief.

“Yeah, and that’s why anyone who has had any inkling about the existence of you guys has had an overwhelming urge to point a weapon in your direction.”

“Aye, lad, if that isn’t nae the truth of the matter,” muttered Hudson the skin around the scar tissue by his left eye wrinkling with the intensity of emotion behind his words. “More’s the pity.”

Goliath chose that moment to chime in: “A wise man once said: “People fear what they do not understand, or find different.”

“Yeah, well…” Tony added with a grin spreading across his mobile face, “Then all I have to say to that; is then those who believe that kind of nonsense will never know what they’re missing out on.”

“There’s truth to that,” replied Goliath.

“You want to know something else, guys? And madam,” Tony added as he stole a glance in Elisa Maza and Angela’s direction, before adding,” This has been a real blast. We should do it again. On a more serious note, you guys ever need anything, call me, or Pepper here.”

Goliath nodded and regarded the red and gold armor worn by Tony Stark, “I am not one to look askance at gif t horse and you have been of great help to us; on behalf of the clan I will accept your offer.”

“Friends and allies, Mr. Goliath!”

“Friends and allies, Mr. Stark.”

“Are we supposed to call you Iron Man?” asked Elisa.

“Nah, that’s just when I’m off saving the world and stuff.”

Elisa turned to Pepper Potts and whispered: “Is he always like this?”

Pepper sighed and replied. “Pretty much, but you become accustomed to it after a while.”


	3. An Octave above Thunder

Disclaimer: Gargoyles: the Animated Series belongs to Disney and Buena Vista Television; it is not mine. Iron Man belongs to Marvel Entertainment Corp, Fox Movies, etc. Note: The story picks up shortly after where the previous one: “The Lull before the Storm” left off and was also written for the live journal prompt table #69” thunder.”

 

“An Octave above Thunder” by karrenia

Emotions were running high and everyone could feel the tension in the air. Goliath, in his own mind, still felt a bit ambivalent about this self-proclaimed Iron Man. His earnest good-will was undeniable and he did not need to confirm with their resident technology expert, Lexington, to confirm that his suit was indeed a marvel of state of the art of gear.

At the same time there was something about that grated on his nerves An instinct for flight or flee that been ingrained into his blood, bones, and sinew for as long as he could recall, he just wished that he could identify what that particular ‘something’ was before it was too late.

Meanwhile Tony Stark suddenly realized, much to his surprise, that the one he’d been introduced to as Lexington was a well-spring of not only curiosity and many, many questions about his powered armor suit, but some native skill there as well.

In fact, at one point Tony was forced to bite back some of his responses, lest he give away too much. He had only chosen to ally himself, help them because as that old saying went, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and from talking with these, ah, people and adding his own investigation into the mix; it all added up to one thing; the man was extremely dangerous.

The fact that they had both created very similar technology did not sit at all well with him and as far as his own concerns. ‘There is that small matter of preventing knowledge of my technology from being disseminated to the public at large, or, gods help us, he thought to himself, to A.I.M.’

Tony nodded and smiled at the small yellow-green gargoyle. “Sure, Lex, that’s a good idea.”

“Did you even hear what I said, Mr. Stark? ‘Because it looked like you kinda spaced out there for a minute. I was just thinking that if we could find Coldstone, and if we could get him to listen and if you could him sit still long enough, you ah, repair the damage to his systems and he we could bring him back into the clan.”

“That’s a lot of ‘ifs, Lex,” Brooklyn said as he came over to stand next to Lex and patted him on the shoulder.

“It could work!” Lexington exclaimed.

“Whoa, I never said it wouldn’t work, I just meant that there are whole lotta things that need to go right before it could work,” replied Brooklyn and shook out his wings in one smooth motion.

“Oh, like the motorcycle,” Lexington replied.

Brooklyn winced. “Yeah, don’t remind me.”

“What motorcycle?” Tony asked having not missed the look of chagrin and discomfort on the brick-red gargoyle’s face.  
Lexington looked up and replied. “He doesn’t like to talk about it and we all worked on it a long time, and the three of us were planning to ride it, in turns…” Lexington shook his head and shuffled his feet on the hard ground.

“What happened?”

“It, uh, kinda blew up.”

“Tough going, kid,” Stark replied.

“What are we waiting for?” Broadway asked with his arm around the only female gargoyle in the group.

“Elisa has still not arrived and until she does, I will not make an unduly hasty move. Mr. Stark has still not elaborated on the nature of the threat we face,” Goliath rumbled. “

“As you may or may not be aware, I had a run-in with your old friend, Xanatos. At the time I believed it to be a fluke, a random occurrence. What would cause two people with ah some similarities to run into each other like that?”

“Go on, laddie,” Hudson rumbled. “We havena got all night.”

“All night! Don’t you mean all day?”

“No, I mean all night, the sun will be up soon and we’ll have to sleep.”

“Oh, right, so I did so more digging and I found out that Xanatos does a lot of business with unscrupulous types, junta governments, some of its above board and legitimate, some of it isn’t” Tony sighed and feeling that they were really was no reason to hold anything back from his new friends he began to lay it out for them. “It would appear that his latest contract involves an international criminal organization that also designs and sells high tech weapons. They’re called Advanced Idea Mechanics or A.I.M for short.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Goliath rumbled.

“Yeah, from the way it sounds, “Broadway added. “Xanatos and AIM can go attack each other.”

“Actually, I was getting to that part.” Tony glared at the bluish husky and slightly rotund gargoyle but let the remark pass without comment. Turning his attention back to the Goliath and Hudson he said: “They’ve teamed up.”

“What do you propose we do about it?” Goliath rumpled.

“And so….”Being the perverse, arrogant, brilliant jerk that I am, I propose a counter measure.”

“In other words, you wish to make an alliance with us,” Goliath replied as he folded his massive arms across his heavily muscled chest. “This bears much thinking about, please will wait out here while I discuss this matter with the clan.”

“Sure, not a problem,” he agreed.  
**

The following evening, having caught a fitful sleep sheltered in the alcove formed by a crumbling stone fortification Tony Stark was startled awake by a loud and echoing roaring that, oddly enough, had overtones of a yawn. He scrambled upright, difficult enough to do in full armor, suddenly grateful that his helmet did not block his peripheral vision and looked up, around and directly above him.  
What he surprised and amazed him. The roaring was a kind of yawn as his new allies greeting the rising moonlight. “Sweet, if it something that I’d categorize into taking a bit getting accustomed to it.”

“I’m so glad that you approve,” a woman’s voice replied.

Tony whirled around to see a short, dark-haired woman in a red jacket regarding him with an appraising stare and leveling a 38. Caliber police-issue gun level with his chest.  
Startled he back-pedaled and spread out his hands in the universal wordless gesture that meant ‘No harm, no foul. “Well, hello, there”” he said.

“Hello,” she replied.

“Who are you?”

“Stark, but your friends up there know me as Iron Man,” he said.

“Detective Maza, and it’s not that doubt the word of a man in an armored power-suit, but I’ll wait until Goliath can vouch for you,” she said.

“It is all right, Elisa. He is an ally,” Golaith replied.

“I see,” she replied and placed the gun back in its holster at her side.

“Good, great. Now that we’ve got that straightened out,” Tony added, I guess this means we’re in for the long haul, right?”

“Indeed,” Goliath replied, but I am still a bit uncertain as to the nature of the threat that we face. Several already are known to us, such as Xanatos, or the Quarrymen.”

“AIM more than likely would not countenance a direct attack,” He smirked. “Such things tend to be bad for business in the long run.”

“If you don’t mind my saying so,” Brooklyn added. “It sounds like you have a lot of experience in this area.”

“I do, that’s why I know how they think.”  
***  
At that precise moment a shrill piercing whistled cracked the still early evening air, adding new and much larger cracks to the ones that the medieval stone castle had not yet garnered.

The sound was so loud and drawn out that everyone gathered in the castle courtyard was forced to cover their airs.

When it had passed Lexington was down on his haunches and clasping the big rangy gag-dog introduced as Bronx around the neck and whispering into his ears. Bronx had sprung to the edge of the parapet and was presently occupied in howling and growling at whatever was out there.

“Some kind of sonic weapon, not too subtle, and in the middle of Manhattan I doubt that the locals would make too much of it.”

“You think that was meant as part of an attack?” Elisa asked.

“Well, we'll soon find out,” he replied and then tilted his head up to the lowering evening sky and where three to five oblong shapes could be dimly seen cross and recrossing a narrow corridor between the nearest skyscrapers and the Eyrie Building.

Goliath growled. “Such tactics are the way of the coward, who dares not attack as outright. If they wish a fight, then come and out of hiding and give us one!”

“Aye, laddie,” Hudson rumbled as he squared his shoulders and drew his saber. “I, for one, am tired of this sounding out attacks.”

“No pun intended, right?” Tony chided, but his heart was not in the lame joke because soon that piercing shrill whistle was followed by the first bloom of laser fire.

“You know,“ he commented as an aside to Elisa Maza who flanked him as he moved away from the group clustered in the center of the courtyard and into a relative open space. “For what it’s worth, I never meant to dry an attack to your their home. Can you tell Goliath that I really am sorry about that?

Elisa reached out a slender but strong hand and slapped him on his armored left shoulder, “Tell him yourself, when this is all over.”

The five shapes resolved themselves into areo-dynamic anti-gravity sleds piloted by drones or by computer, either way; they were a threat that needed to be deal with as soon as possible.

Tony engaged his rocket boosters and ascended to about ten feet above the highest tower of the castle and began to return fire, using his repulse energy field in an attempt to minimize the fallout to the those below.

The gargoyles had taken to the air and even as he fought Tony Stark thought he had never seen anything more beautiful and more dangerous in the air. At one point one of the areo-dynamic sleds was sliced in half broad-sided by Hudson’s sword.

While another was taken out by Broadway and Angela working in tandem, and yet another was destroyed by Brooklyn and Lexington exhibiting a working understanding in the air of a tactic that fooled the remote attackers to fire upon each other and thus be destroyed.

“Hah!” Serves you right, your confounded contraptions!” Hudson roared even as he sliced and diced and spun out of the way of the laser beams.  
**

Meanwhile, in a room far below where the fight was playing itself out, David Xanatos watched it out a live video feed, and shook his head. “The technology had been impressive on paper and in the live demos which he had been invited to attend at the A.I. M headquarters about two weeks ago. In practice however, the drones while impressive AIS in their own right could only learn and adapt to the tactics of a live opponent up to a certain point, after that it seemed as if the gargoyles were literally flying circles around them.  
He turned his head to where his assistant, Owen Burnett sat at a nearby desk going over the weekly expense reports. “Owen, I think it is safe to say that we can cancel the AIM account. Make the call.”

“Of course, Sir,” Owen replied. “If you don’t mind my saying so, I did feel they price-gouged you.”

“Not all, Owen, not at all.”  
**  
When it was all over they all gathered at the courtyard once more. Tony took a deep breath and ordered his in-flight computer to retract his helmet and crossed the distance that separated him from Goliath stood.

“I made a promise to Elisa that I would do this, one way or the other.”

“Whatever are you talking about?” Goliath demanded as he folded his massive arms across an equally muscled chest.

“I promised her that I would tell you this in person, so here goes. I am truly sorry that I brought this attack down on your home.”

“I understand, “ Goliath replied. “Does it soothe your conscience to tell me this now?”

“You’re angry, I get that. Tony Stark could be angry too, and at the moment he was not sure that it would do a bit of good, “But, there really wasn’t much time before the attack and during it, well, you know how that goes…”

“I suppose that I do,” Goliath replied this time it seemed that some of his earlier frosty and hostile demeanor had subsided. “And thank you for that. “

“I should hope that is that last we’ll seem of those, uh, AIM things,” Brooklyn added.

“I concur, laddie,” Hudson agreed.

“But they were coo!” Lexington interrupted. “Now, if I could just hack into Xanatos’s computer maybe there’s a record somewhere of their schematics and we could build one of our own….”

Goliath, Tony, and Elisa all turned to regard Lexington was mingled expressions of shock and disbelief. “Absolutely not!”

“Oh,” Lexington shrugged. “I guess not, then. But do you think they’ll try attacking us again.”

“Doubtful,” Hudson muttered.

“I concur, “ Goliath added. “ I surmise that this attack, such as it was, was a test run. If I know Xanatos he will more than likely sever ties with AIM and go back to his own nefarious methods.”

“Then I guess this is goodbye,” Tony remarked. “And let me say one more thing before I go, Goliath.”

“If you must,” the big gargoyle rumbled.

“It has been both an honor and a pleasure working with you!” Tony reached and grasped Goliath by the hand or claw or whatever and shook it for all he was worth.  
Goliath once his hand was release rocked back on his heels and nodded. “Indeed, it has.

“And in the future, should you feel the need to drop in unexpectedly,” Elisa added as she stepped forward. “Just promise us one more thing.”

“Sure, anything you want. Just name it.”

“Call first,” she said.

**Author's Note:**

> originally written and posted for selenawolf's request in the lj community: fic on demand


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